Damn it kitty!!! Our review is late. So #@!%$ what!!!
Every gamer has
known the bitter disappointment of buying a terrible video game based on a
popular movie or TV show. The majority of the time, developers just slap
together a crappy cash grab and put in zero effort to actually make the game
GOOD. South Park: The Stick of Truth bucks this trend and sets the bar
incredibly high for future licensed games. It is by far the best licensed game
I have ever played and blows every other game like it out of the water. The
care and love put into this game is apparent within the first five minutes of
game play and continues all the way up to the end.
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| "We are the New Village People!" |
South Park creators
Matt Stone and Trey Parker were involved with every step of the game’s
development, going as far to provide the initial funding for the game to keep
it from being censored by the studios. They ended up partnering with Obsidian,
makers of the highly acclaimed Fallout: New Vegas, which ended up being the
perfect choice for an RPG. This game ended up having an unusually long
development cycle with some snags along the way (Particularly when THQ, the
game’s publisher, declared bankruptcy while the game was still being
developed). But it paid off in the end with the release of an outstanding game.
As most fans know,
South Park has a cartoon cut-out look and limited animation, and the graphics
in The Stick of Truth are absolutely spot on. It looks exactly like you are
watching an episode of the show, down to the herky-jerky way the characters
move. You can also explore a recreation of the entire town of South Park, and
all the locals from the show are faithfully reproduced. There are plenty of
cut-scenes interspersed throughout the game, which add up to the length of a
full length feature film. The writing is on par with the television show and is
absolutely hilarious, not to mention foul and offensive. Nothing has been toned
down for the game and all of the fart jokes, sex jokes and politically
incorrect subject matters have been kept intact. I can safely say this is the
funniest game I have ever seen and much of the humor is clever and subversive.
Oddly enough, the
RPG genre is a perfect fit for the South Park universe. You can craft your own
character (only a male though) and pick from four starting classes: Fighter,
Thief, Mage, and... Jew. Dammit, Cartman! The classes don’t affect your
starting stats too much, they really only change your character’s special
attacks. The battle system is turned-based, with tried and true Paper Mario
style timing-based attack and defense. It’s a little bare-boned, but it never gets
too repetitive or boring. There is some
limited weapon and armor customization via “patches” and “strap-ons,” and you
can even change the color of your various armors with special dyes. All of the
pieces of equipment in the game look unique and change the outward appearance
of your character.
Unfortunately, the
menu system is the one flaw marring this game. The look of it is great; it’s
your character’s Facebook page and you can add friends and get messages just
like the real thing. The problem is that there is a 1-2 second delay every time you open it, and also when
you move from tab to tab. Since this is an RPG, you access your menu very
frequently and it becomes very frustrating to use. The game also suffers from
frequent loading screens and occasional lag when going from area to area. It’s
not super detrimental to the game play, but since this game isn’t graphically
intense, it’s puzzling as to why it exists. I also encountered a game-breaking
bug toward the end of the game, but luckily I had a prior save that I reverted
to, and the problem was fixed. I recommend you keep several saves, and save
often, as other bugs have been reported.
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| "Did someone say Village People?" |
What I really love
about this game is the attention to detail and all the inside jokes for fans of
the show. As an example, healing potions in this game are snack foods like
cookies or bags of chips. When most characters use them, they eat one handful
and gain some HP back. Cartman, because he is a fat ass, always eats two
handfuls and recovers twice the HP. Little things like that elevate this game
to more than a mediocre licensed game and make it something really special. All
of the well-loved characters make an appearance and you get to party up with
the likes of Butters and Kenny. All of other townsfolk make cameo appearances,
even if it only for a brief second. The soundtrack is excellent as well; Some
of the music is actually quite beautiful and it has a symphonic feel fitting
for an epic RPG.
If you are a fan of
South Park, you owe it to yourself to play this game. You're esentially
controlling a fifteen hour long episode of the show. It is pretty short for an RPG, however, and
has next to no replay value unless you are looking to get all of the
Achievements or Trophies. You might want to wait for it to go on sale or pick
it up used, as the full price is a little steep for how much gameplay you get.
Aside from a few technical issues, the content is of the utmost quality, and I
commend developers Obsidian, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker for crafting such an
excellent game.
-Michelle Kisner